Food programs in high demand over summer break

Two-thirds of Lee County students eat free or reduced cost meals at school, so finding food over summer break can be a challenge for many children.

There are programs that help alleviate the strain, including some that are also in need of help.

The commotion of summer camp turns quiet when lunch arrives. The Stars Complex in Fort Myers is one of several locations serving up free meals all summer long to anyone under the age of 18.

“Why not take advantage of it, if it's available?” asks Glenn Hudson, who is a single father.

“Use the resources, they're there,” Hudson said.

Hudson brought his two school-aged children to the Stars Complex, and they joined roughly 200 other children for a free lunch.

“I love it,” points out Ancelyn Willis, the program director at the Stars Complex. “I've been doing this for years, like 20-plus years, and I just enjoy seeing the smiles on the children's faces when they come here.”

The federal government pays for the Summer Break Spotprogram, at a cost of nearly $30 million in Florida last summer.

While funding is available for meal programs, local food banks struggle in the summer months.

“In the summertime, we call it a triple threat,” says Miriam Pereira, the director of development at Harry Chapin Food Bank in Fort Myers.